PUBLIC CELEBRATION of ART & PERFORMANCE from the students of SELFHELP LATIMER GARDENS OAC & NEWTOWN ITALIAN SENIOR CITIZEN CENTER At FLUSHING TOWN HALL Friday June 9, 2023

 PUBLIC CELEBRATION of ART & PERFORMANCE 

from the students of

SELFHELP LATIMER GARDENS OAC & NEWTOWN ITALIAN SENIOR CITIZEN CENTER

At

FLUSHING TOWN HALL

Friday June 9, 2023

Spica, Margaret, and I were excited to see our students all together at Flushing Town Hall eager to perform their shadow puppet stories. Gabrielle M. Hamilton, Director of Education & Public Programs and Joanne Lee, Education & Family Programs Administrator at Flushing Town Hall welcomed us and helped set up the performance space, with assistance from their staff. Thank you very much for making it all seamless! 

 

Esther, Program Assistant at Newtown Italian Senior Citizen Center brought our students via a chartered bus, some of whom had never been to Flushing before. Our students from Selfhelp Latimer Gardens OAC walked over, accompanied by the Director, Helen Yang and Miranda, the Case Worker there. We welcome their support and encouragement. It was also exciting for the participants to have their family there to support them, including their children and grandchildren. By our elders sharing the legacy of their stories, we, the next generation, are richer. 

 

We were especially pleased this event was able to go ahead as scheduled after the poor air quality New York was experiencing due to smoke from the Canadian wildfires.

 

Each student did an outstanding job telling their personal story through their beautifully crafted shadow puppets. We were impressed with their confidence in presentation and the interest the other students took in each story, asking questions, taking photos, and congratulating each other. 

 

We wish to express our gratitude to John Wobbe, Spica’s husband who videoed the event for archival purposes and so the seniors could have their own personal record of the day. Spica, who works tirelessly, will create the link for the video and send it to the Directors at each Senior Center. 

 

Each student received a gift bag in which they placed their shadow puppet frame and puppets. As well they were presented with a certificate in recognition of their hard work and dedication. Each participant also received a copy of Grandma Zhao-zhi Tells Taiwanese Tales, Spica's mother's book, as well as an English translation. It is a collection of her mother’s paintings which document her life and the history of Taiwan. Her art work forms part of the permanent collection in the Museum of Taiwan History, Taiwan. She was a self taught artist, and an inspiration, along with my own father's storytelling, for the Memory Project.  We hope this book will inspire our students to continue sharing their own stories and use the flashlight, which is also in the gift bag, to present their shadow puppet plays to family and friends.

 

Spica, Margaret, and I received thoughtful cards signed by our students, and an awesome gift of a wooden cube blossom kit so we can nurture a plant just as each participant has nurtured their own story. May they continue to find joy in creating, sharing stories, and passing on their legacies.